Timothy John Smith, left, Janice Duclos, Angela Brazil and Timothy Crowe star in Adam Bock’s The Receptionist. Trinity Rep’s artistic director Curt Columbus directs.

Mark Turek

For the longest time Adam Bock’s play, The Receptionist, looks like outtakes from the hit TV series The Office. Beverly Wilkins, the receptionist of the title, presides over an office of indeterminate mission, where she dispenses advice, tries to rescue the love life of coworker Lorraine, and utters the oft-heard phrase, “Can I put you through to his voice mail?”

But then things turn sinister in this dark 90-minute comedy that opened Wednesday at Trinity Rep. That’s when Mr. Dart shows up from the central office and we begin to understand that the uneventful goings-on at the Northeast Office are not as they first appeared.

What starts out as the makings of a droll sitcom turns into an episode of The Twilight Zone.

The 47-year-old Bock, who worked for many years as a receptionist, including at Trinity Rep, clearly has an ear for office banter, for the cadences and inflections of a banal phone conversation. His writing is crisp, a little quirky and very funny.

And Janice Duclos, who stars as Beverly, is perfect for the part, a master of deadpan delivery and the disapproving glance.

Bock, in fact, wrote the part with Duclos in mind, and her understated humor goes a long way to making this production a success. She’s terrific, making the most mundane dialogue sing.

But despite nuanced direction from Curt Columbus, the play has its slow moments when very little happens to advance what little plot there is. Duclos spends her time fielding calls from her troubled daughter and bothersome folks who want to speak with her elusive boss, Mr. Raymond, played by Timothy Crowe, who rejoins Trinity Rep after year’s sabbatical. When Mr. Dart shows up looking for the absent Mr. Raymond, there is plenty of opportunity for small talk, as Beverly assures him that it’s normal for his preschooler to eat paste.

And when things do turn dark, Bock provides very little in the way of details. We get glimpses into the macabre dealings with which Mr. Raymond is involved. He seems like an affable enough fellow at first, as he confesses his love for fly fishing in a rambling monologue at the start of the play. But it’s not long before he starts talking about partaking in torture and other forms of human degradation as though he were ordering a grilled cheese sandwich.

On the other hand, it seems Bock didn’t want to give too much away. Part of the tantalizing nature of this play is that it keeps you guessing, that you are given just enough information to let your imagination run wild. We know next to nothing about these characters, except that Beverly and her husband like to collect tea cups, and that desperate, teary-eyed Lorraine is bordering on a nervous breakdown over her narcissistic boyfriend, Glen.

Angela Brazil puts a wonderful spin on the flirtatious Lorraine, who slinks about in spiked heels wagging her rear end. When handsome Mr. Dart shows up, she just about melts, trying as best she can to catch his eye. So he has a kid, she says, but he could be divorced.

Brazil can be a little over the top at times, a little exaggerated in her portrayal. But she pulls it off. She is that office worker we all know, someone who is much more wrapped up in gossip than the job at hand.

Of course, in this play we have no real idea what the job at hand is. Lorraine flits in and out of her office, blubbering to Beverly the latest wrinkle in her relationship with Glen.

Timothy John Smith, who appeared last season in Columbus’ musical Paris by Night, gives us a Mr. Dart who can seem so unassuming one moment and so menacing the next. He spends his time plucking candy from the bowl on Beverly’s desk and talking about goodies at the local pastry shop. But when it comes time to meet with Mr. Raymond, he’s all business, a man who lives up to his threatening name.

Designer Eugene Lee’s set is fairly austere for him, just a waiting room with a few chairs, some magazines, a desk and a revolving wall. In the end, the back of the set turns to reveal a very different setting.

While Trinity is running The Receptionist in the downstairs theater opposite its enormously successful A Christmas Carol, there is nothing about the show that makes it a holiday offering, save for a couple of Christmas cards tacked to the cork board behind Beverly’s desk. It is an entertaining show, though, the kind of night out that’s sure to buoy your spirits during an often stressful time.

It’s a production that will strike a familiar chord with anyone who has ever spent a lot of time in an office.

The Receptionist runs through Jan. 11 at Trinity Rep, 201 Washington St., Providence. Tickets are $20-$60. Call (401) 351-4242, or log on to www.trinityrep.com.

cgray@projo.com